Reflection:

Image of God

I have often wondered in my Christian walk what it truly means to be created in the image of God. When reading the account of creation in (Genesis 1:26) on the sixth day, God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness”. Thus, He finished His work with a “personal touch.” Then He formed man from the dust and gave him life by sharing His own breath (Genesis 2:7). Consequently, man is unique among all God’s creations, having both a material body and an immaterial soul and spirit. Meaning we have a soul and spirit and live in a body. But what does all this really mean?

Having the “image” or “likeness” of God means to me, in the simplest terms that we were made to resemble God in every aspect of our lives. It's interesting to note that the two words used for image and likeness are also used in Genesis 5:3 which talks about how Adam had a son "in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth." Seth was in the image and likeness of Adam, just as Adam was created in the image and likeness of God. The Scripture says that “God is spirit” (John 4:24) and therefore exists without a body. However, Adam’s body did mirror the life of God as it was created in perfect health and was not subject to death.

Dominion:

When I consider what God says about dominion, my first thought was that God wanted me to be the boss, as in bossing people around, do what I say” but that is not the dominion God was speaking of. He wants us to maintain order over creatures not people and over the earth as well. The image of God refers also to the immaterial part of man. It sets man apart from the animal world, fits him for the dominion God intended him to have over the earth (Genesis 1:28), and enables him to commune with his Maker. Similarly, it sets man apart from the plant world as well. It is a similarity, mentally, morally, and socially.

Mentally, man was created as a rational, volitional agent. In other words, man can reason and man can choose. This is a reflection of God’s intellect and freedom. Anytime someone invents a machine, writes a book, paints a landscape, enjoys a symphony, calculates a sum, or names a pet, he or she is proclaiming the fact that we are made in God’s image.

Morally, man was created in righteousness and perfect purity, a reflection of God’s holiness. God saw all He had made (mankind included) and called it “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Our conscience or “moral compass” is a vestige of that original state. Whenever someone writes a law, recoils from evil, praises good behavior, or feels guilty, he is confirming the fact that we are made in God’s own image.

Socially, man was created for fellowship to commune with God. This reflects God's triune nature and His love. In Eden, man’s primary relationship was with God, this implies fellowship with God, and God made the first woman because “it is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18). Every time someone gets married, makes a friend, hugs a child, or attends church, he is demonstrating the fact that we are made in the likeness of God, although there are many demonstrations this is only a few.

Part of being made in God’s image is that Adam had the capacity to make free choices. Although he was given a righteous nature, Adam made an evil choice to rebel against his Creator. In so doing, Adam marred the image of God within himself, and he passed that damaged likeness on to all his children. Today, we still bear the image of God, but we also bear the blemishes of our own iniquity. Mentally, morally, socially, and physically, we show the effects of sin.

The good news is that when God redeems an individual, He begins to restore the original image of God, creating a “new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” That redemption is only available by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior from the sin that separates us from God. Through Christ, we are made new creations in the likeness of God (2 Corinthians 5:17). In other words, in Christ we experience a new birth, and the scriptures tell us, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation, old things have passed away and behold all things are new.

We are, of all that God created, the most unique of his created beings. Thus when viewed through the lens of spirituality, we are indeed created and made in His likeness and similitude. The ability to think and act independently as well as in a team, continues to validate the original purpose for what God intended.